Chapter 712: My Brother-in-Law’s Condition!
The next morning!
Li Yi had just gotten out of bed when he was told that Zhou Rui had arrived.
When Li Yi came downstairs, he was surprised to find that, in addition to Zhou Rui, his older sister’s husband, Yang Wenguang, was also there.
Clearly, his brother-in-law had come over with Zhou Rui.
Upon seeing Li Yi, Zhou Rui immediately said, “Comrade Li Yi, the higher-ups have approved the color TV production line project. Both the equipment and the personnel over there can be shipped over at any time!”
“That’s great news. I’ve already put Wen in charge of this; I’ll have him get in touch with you, Director Zhou, when the time comes!” Li Yi said happily.
“Alright!”
Zhou Rui continued, “Also, regarding that business delegation you mentioned, the higher-ups are taking it very seriously. They asked me to let you know that, if possible, after the Hong Kong businessmen finish their tour of Guangdong Province, they should come to Beijing for a visit!”
“Alright, I’ll bring it up with them. I don’t think it’ll be a problem,” Li Yi replied.
“Then it’s settled!”
“Alright!”
At that moment, Zhou Rui added, “Oh, by the way, Comrade Zhang Ziqiang mentioned that you plan to return to Beijing as soon as possible. There are no flights to Beijing today, but the military has a plane heading there. I’ve already arranged it for you—they’ll send a special vehicle to pick you up when you arrive!”
“When?”
“It should be around noon. They’ll call you here with the exact details, so just make sure to answer the phone!” Zhou Rui said.
“Alright, thanks, Zhou!”
“Heh, you’re welcome. If anyone should be thanking anyone, it’s me!” Zhou Rui said with a smile.
“What do you mean?”
“We’ll talk about that later. You go chat with Comrade Yang Wenguang for a bit; I’ve got some business to take care of!”
“Alright, Chief Zhou, go ahead and take care of it if you’ve got something to do!” Li Yi said.
After seeing Zhou Rui off, Li Yi looked at the pale-faced Yang Wenguang and asked, “Brother-in-law, did you get it done?”
“It’s all taken care of. The funds have been successfully transferred to the comrades at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange!”
Yang Wenguang grinned, his face beaming with excitement.
Since retiring from the military, he never imagined he’d have another chance to serve the country—it was the highest honor for him.
Li Yi nodded, then said, “Brother-in-law, you don’t look too well. Why don’t you…”
Before Li Yi could finish, Yang Wenguang hurriedly interjected, “Little Yi, I’m fine. I’m in great shape!”
“Fine my ass! Just look at your complexion—it’s way worse than it was before you went to Hong Kong!”
Li Yi continued, “My sister told me there’s still a piece of shrapnel inside you that hasn’t been removed. I don’t mean anything by it—I just want you to go to a good hospital in Hong Kong and get a thorough check-up to see if they can remove it!”
Yang Wenguang sighed and said, “It’s not that easy. Back then, the army doctor said the shrapnel was in a particularly sensitive location. If we try to remove it forcefully, it could easily be life-threatening!”
“Medical facilities here are limited. Besides, it’s been so many years, and medical technology has advanced so rapidly—there might be a solution now!”
Li Yi continued, “Brother-in-law, you have to understand that you’re not just looking out for yourself anymore. You have my sister and little Ruirui. If you’re not in good health, how can I possibly let you keep doing such dangerous work?”
“I get what you’re saying. I’ll go to the hospital for a checkup when I get back. If they really can’t remove it, then I’ll quit my job in Hong Kong!”
“That won’t be necessary. If things don’t work out in Hong Kong, I’ll transfer you to Zaiying. If it really can’t be removed, just switch to a management position—just stay off the front lines!” Li Yi said.
“Alright…”
Just then, Li Yi saw Big Sister walking over with a tray, carrying several bowls of millet porridge and a few steamed buns.
“You must be hungry after talking for so long. Let’s eat first!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Sis, my brother-in-law is about to head back to Hong Kong. Why don’t you keep him company for a bit?”
With that, Li Yi stood up from the sofa, grabbed a bun, and headed upstairs while eating…
……..
Beijing Military Region Airport!
As an Ilyushin Il-14 passenger plane slowly touched down on the runway, Li Yi and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Man, that journey had really kept them on edge.
This fighter pilot was truly extraordinary—taking off like a rocket and landing with a series of “thuds”—giving Li Yi and the others a real taste of an ace fighter pilot’s prowess.
This wasn’t piloting a passenger plane—it was flying it like a fighter jet!
Although it was a bit uncomfortable, the benefits were obvious: what normally takes four and a half hours to fly from Guangzhou to Beijing took them only two and a half hours.
According to the crew, the captain had already been very considerate of them, given that there were children on board.
Otherwise, the flight wouldn’t have taken more than two hours.
Hearing this, Li Yi was completely dumbfounded. Aside from muttering, “Thank you for sparing my life,” he didn’t know what else to say!
Even with the captain’s “special consideration,” both Li Yi and Jiang Xue felt their legs trembling as they stepped off the plane!
Fortunately, the biting cold wind of the north forced the palpitations and nausea in their hearts to subside.
The military district had clearly been notified as well and had vehicles ready for Li Yi and his group well in advance.
As soon as the plane touched down, an officer approached. After a brief exchange with Zhang Ziqiang, he led Li Yi and the others to several jeeps parked next to the airport.
The vehicles then set off toward the city center!
By the time Li Yi and his group returned to the courtyard house in the city, it was already 5:30 p.m.
By then, the sun had set, and the city was already dotted with scattered lights!
Pushing open the gate to enter the courtyard, Li Yi saw the light on in the main hall. He immediately walked in with Yun Jin in his arms, followed closely by Jiang Xue, who was holding Yun Rui.
As for the others, some were holding children while others carried gifts bought in Hong Kong; they all entered together.
As soon as they stepped inside, Li Yi saw his mother, his second older sister, and his eldest nephew, Zhang Ning, getting ready to eat. The bowls and chopsticks were already set out, but the food hadn’t been served yet.
Seeing them come in, his mother let out a gasp: “Oh my goodness! Why are you back at this hour?”
Then, reaching out to take Yunrui from Jiang Xue’s arms, she said, “Why didn’t you give us a heads-up? Xiao Lan and I were just about to make do with some leftovers from lunch—there’s only two and a half steamed buns and a bowl of stewed vegetables left in the pot…”
Before Mother could finish, Li Yi said with a smile, “Mom, don’t worry about dinner—we won’t go hungry!”
“You and my second sister shouldn’t have to eat leftovers either. Let’s all go out for a meal together in a bit!”
“Eating out is too expensive. We still have some dried noodles at home. Let me cook some for you!” Zhang Yuehong hurriedly said.
Li Yi immediately replied, “Mom, making noodles means you have to heat the pan, boil water, and cook the noodles—it’s too much trouble. Let’s just eat out; it’s easier!”
“You silly boy, how much trouble could making some noodles possibly be…”
Jiang Xue knew her mother-in-law was always frugal, but she was very kind to her as a daughter-in-law; basically, whenever she asked for something, her mother-in-law rarely refused.
With that in mind, she immediately said, “Mom, we didn’t get to eat our fill at lunch today because we were rushing to catch our flight. We’re starving now—our stomachs are growling. Let’s just go out to eat; it’ll be faster!”
Li Yi seized the moment to add, “Besides, with so many of us at home, even if we just have a bowl of noodles each, that’s still a lot. We might not even have enough noodles at home!”
“Well… all right then!”
Zhang Yuehong never refused her daughter-in-law’s requests.
After all, in her heart, she knew her son had taken advantage of his daughter-in-law while drunk, and the Li family owed Jiang Xue a debt of gratitude.
Plus, her daughter-in-law had given the Li family two smart and adorable children—she was a true hero to the family.
Never mind going out for a meal—even if she asked for the stars and the moon, as long as they could manage it, they’d agree without hesitation.
After Li Yi and Jiang Xue had put away the things they’d brought back from Hong Kong, the whole group set off in a grand procession from the courtyard house!